The Purpose of Sobriety Checkpoints

As we approach the holiday season, you will begin to hear more often that the police “are out in force.”  As a former police officer, I will tell you that budgetary constraints do not generally allow the police departments to add officers on any given shift.  What that phrase usually means is that the officers usually working those shifts are being told to stay on the streets as opposed to spending time in the station or barracks.  However, one thing you will certainly see is an increase in the number of “Sobriety Checkpoints.”

Sobriety checkpoints are a part of the Administrative Warrant Exception to the 4^th Amendment.  The sole purpose of the Administrative Warrant doctrine is for the safety of the public.  The US Supreme Court, in Michigan v. Sitz, noted that the balance of the State’s interest in preventing drunk driving, the extent to which the system can reasonably be said to advance that interest, and the degree of intrusion upon motorists, weighs in favor of the state program.  There are, however, rules that the police have to follow in order to properly conduct a sobriety checkpoint.

In order to run a sobriety checkpoint, there must be a written, administrative policy at the police department.  That policy must dictate how the officers will stop the vehicles.  For example, the officers are to stop every car that comes through the checkpoint, or they are to stop every third car that comes through the checkpoint.  The police cannot stop cars “at random.”  Nothing can be left to the discretion of the police officer.  In Massachusetts, the SJC has added that the date, time, and location of the checkpoints must be “published.”  Further, the written policy must be on file at the police department, and must state the department’s reasons for conducting sobriety checkpoints.  The checkpoint can then only be used in connection with that policy.  I have seen policies that go as far as to require each officer have a 3×5 card on them with a specific greeting, and the greeting must be read verbatim to the stopped drivers, explaining the purpose of the stop.  However, bear in mind, in Massachusetts the odor of alcohol alone is enough to establish reasonable suspicion by the officer to further detain a driver for testing.

Almost every policy I have seen mentions something about the safety of the public being one of its purposes, and deterrence of drunk driving as being another.  I can tell you from experience that sobriety checkpoints do not deter drunk driving.  I have personally stopped numerous vehicles at sobriety checkpoints with drivers who knew they were driving into a checkpoint, and have blown well over the legal limit.  One individual, in fact, after being arrested once by me during a checkpoint, and after being bailed, was picked up by her friend, borrowed the keys to her friend’s car, and drove right back through the checkpoint because she “had to go to the store.”  Hmmm…I wonder what she was looking to buy?

Sobriety checkpoints are a useful tool for the police to help us be safe on the roads this holiday season.  As always, I would suggest that you monitor the amount of alcoholic beverages you are drinking, and never risk driving under the influence of alcohol.  However, if you come across a sobriety checkpoint, and you are subsequently arrested for DUI/OUI, be sure to discuss all of your options with your attorney.  There may be possible defenses available if the officer deviated from the written policy of the department.